The Best Seats in the House

I am grateful to a woman I knew several years ago for sharing a secret with me.  I admit I thought she was insane when she first told me.  I was still trying to navigate weekly Mass with a 2-year-old.  This woman suggested we should sit near the front of the church.

I had been sitting near the back.  And when I say “near” the back, I mean the farthest corner I could find.  I needed to be ready to rush out at a moment’s notice.  And I thought that was where families with little ones were supposed to sit.  But this woman was more experienced than I was.  She claimed that toddlers behaved better when they could see and hear what was going on.  There is, after all, an actual miracle taking place at every single Mass.  It shouldn’t be boring.

I was scared the first time I took my toddler to the front.  But I quickly noticed an improvement.  I noticed that I could see what was happening, too.  And I stopped trying to entertain my child with board books and small toys.  I started using the Mass to entertain him.  There is so much to see and so much to explain.  I pointed out the candles and the colors in the stained-glass windows.  Little ones love expanding their vocabularies, and a Catholic church is an excellent place for that.  New words are everywhere.  Cruets, ambo, chasuble, thurible, etc.

We continued sitting in our spot by the front as our family grew.  With all the excitement of the Mass, we’ve needed very few quick exits.  It’s the best place for a young family.  I wish I could share this secret with everyone.  But my kids are no longer little.  If all the front pews are filled in with younger families, where will I sit?  My teenagers like to see and hear what’s happening just as much now that they understand the words as they did when they were still learning them.